May 18
May 18 is the 139th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 227 days remain until the year's end. It falls in spring (northern hemisphere) and under the astrological sign of Taurus.
External references
Curated jump-off points to the major almanacs, encyclopaedias and primary sources for this date.
Astronomy
On May 18 the Sun's declination is approximately +19.7°. At this latitude the Sun is north of the celestial equator, giving the Northern Hemisphere longer days than nights.
For specific rise/set times at your location, see the U.S. Naval Observatory, or the NASA APOD archive for any imagery published on a May 18.
Position in the year
Holidays & observances
- International Museum Day
Events
A selection of widely-documented historical events that took place on this date. Years marked BCE follow standard astronomical convention.
1804 — Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate. ↗(222 years ago)more
Napoleon Bonaparte, later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was Emperor of the French from 18 May 1804 until his first abdication in 1814, with a brief restoration during the Hundred Days in 1815. He rose to prominence as a general during the French Revolution and led a series of military campaigns across Europe and the Middle East during the French Re...
1860 — The Republican National Convention nominated Abraham Lincoln for the U.S. presidency. ↗(166 years ago)more
The 1860 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met May 16–18 in Chicago, Illinois. It was held to nominate the Republican Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1860 election.
1953 — Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier. ↗(73 years ago)more
Jacqueline Cochran was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation and was the first woman to break the sound barrier on 18 May 1953. Cochran was the wartime head of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (1943–1944), which employed about 1,000 civilian American women in a non-combat role to ferry planes from factories to po...
1980 — Mount St. Helens in Washington state erupted, killing 57 and devastating the surrounding landscape. ↗(46 years ago)more
On May 18, 1980, at 8:32 a.m., Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington experienced a catastrophic explosive eruption which had a volcanic explosivity index of 5. It was the first to occur in the contiguous United States since the much smaller 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak in California.
Notable births
1872 — Bertrand Russell, British philosopher and Nobel laureate. ↗(154 years ago)more
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, was an English philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He influenced mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic philosophy.
1920 — Pope John Paul II. ↗(106 years ago)more
Pope John Paul II was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century, as well as the third-longest-serving pope in history, after St. Peter and Pius IX.
Notable deaths
1995 — Elisha Cook Jr., American actor. ↗(31 years ago)more
Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. was an American character actor famed for his work in film noir. He played cheerful, brainy collegiates until he was cast against type as the bug-eyed baby-faced killer Wilmer Cook in the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon. He went on to play deceptively mild-mannered villains.
Numerical & calendrical curiosities
| Day-of-year (139) | 139 · prime |
|---|---|
| Days remaining (227) | 227 |
| Date code DDMMYYYY | 18052026 · no palindrome in next 200 years |
| Sun declination | +19.70° (Cooper approximation) |
| Distance from solstice | 33 days |